The War for Mobius
by Spartan571
Summary: Sonic has destroyed Robotropolis and released the world from Robotnik's total control, but that was just the beginning. The War for the planet has begun as the Acorn Kingdom and Human Government work together to fight a war on all fronts of Mobius...
1. Default Chapter

Default Chapter:

Yes, yes you all know I don't own any characters or anything else that Sega owns. Well, that's out of the way. This story has characters from EVERY single story line, mixed into a single big plot, meaning it has people like Manic, and Sonia from Sonic Underground, and SatAM characters, Sally, Bunnie, Rotor, etc. It also has characters like Shadow, and Rogue from the Sonic Adventure 2 story line, and it's a totally made up plot. Now I have only seen the first season of SatAM, none of the second but I do like the old show. In this storyline, I call the humans, humans (homosapiens) and in my story they live together with Mobosapiens, a Mobosapien is the creatures like Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, etc you know what I mean. Humans and Mobosapiens are both in the story line and they live together as if they were exactly alike. So there are as many humans as Mobosapien characters. That's really all there is to say, so you can start reading and tell me what you think, and be expecting a variety of characters at different times. Rated M for hardcore violence and some swearing.


	2. Those to be Avenged

Chapter 1: Those to be avenged…

Sonic had blown the Death Egg to smithereens, lead a resistance group for 2 years against Dr. Robotnik and his robotic empire, stopped Dr. Robotnik from getting his hands on the Chaos Emeralds, the Power Stone's secrets, and the Master Emerald. He had used his Invincible Super Form to obliterate Robotropolis, the city covering a large part of Mobius that had grown ever since Robotnik had used his armies to overthrow the Acorn Kingdom. He was a legend, a hero, and a friend of Humans and Mobosapiens everywhere alike. But he hadn't stopped Dr. Robotnik. The real war had just begun. Now a new Kingdom that had risen up from ashes, has rebuilt greatly but only by Sonic's actions it now has a chance against Robotnik's army. Sonic had stolen a large portion of Robotnik's technologies and weapons. The war has only just now begun. The new Kingdom, led by Queen Acorn and Princess Sally Acorn, has moved to take back their planet entirely. Factories still run and process plants build new robot soldiers, tanks, and other weapons every day.

Lives of many people are lost everyday in the fight to protect their homes, families, and very freedom. Human and Mobosapien soldiers alike fight on the frontlines, desperately using every resource and tactic to push back the enemy forces and gain control over enemy controlled Zones and garrisons. This war has only begun, but just the very chance of victory has been given to the world from Sonic the Hedgehog. On the entire planet battles rage in many places. One cannot even leave an Acorn Kingdom controlled area or a Human Government controlled area without being in danger of the enemy. But now everyone lives in hope.

The world is far from victory. The battle has just begun. Everyday while people live in hope, Sonic lives in agony. He hates himself. He knows it's his fault his Uncle Chuck, father and mother are dead. He didn't protect them enough. He couldn't stop the onslaught the day where Robotnik's fleet of warships flew through the sky, blocking out the sun itself, and rained fire down upon cities. Millions lost their lives instantly in fire storms and from the hands of robotic soldiers. The Kingdom fought bravely but their valiant defense fell in mere hours. Sonic was in the palace itself, held up with a few hundred soldiers, as the fleet positioned itself above to bombard the palace into dust. Robotnik himself grabbed the king by the throat right before Sonic and lifted him from his feet, saying, "Your time ruling this world is over fool… it's my turn." Sonic fought through a horde of robots to get to the king, and was hit by a laser beam fired from a SWAT bot, searing his left shoulder and leaving a scar to remember him forever of that day. He had barely escaped with a few soldiers aboard a Machine Gun Turret Mount Vehicle.

He had allowed Robotnik to steal his uncle's technologies and secrets, allowing him to get a hold of the horrifying Robotisizer. A machine that literally and painfully rearranges your molecules into a robotic form of yourself as a slave of Dr. Robotnik. It truly was the greatest thing of all time, something that seemed impossible, turning people into robots, but it was reality, and millions died and were murdered when placed inside of the machine. Only the Power Stone and Chaos Emeralds had stayed out of Robotnik's clutches.

Destroying Robotropolis had not brought Sonic the satisfaction he had hope. He knew he wouldn't be in peace until the war was truly won. When he was on the verge of defeat, he told himself, "If you fail, your family will never rest in peace." And it had pushed him to victory. When the darkness began to swallow him, and things got tough, he had pushed on. He would never stop fighting until he won… or died. In some ways recently he had compared himself to Shadow. Shadow had never stopped fighting to get what he desired. But did Sonic really desire something? Or just want it? Shadow had seemed to only do things for greed and yet, he was only fighting for what he believed in. He had realized all the lies Professor Gerald had filled his head with were only going to spill more innocent blood, and then had aided the resistance many times trying to fulfill his desire; what Maria wanted… his only family. So in a way, Sonic figured, he wasn't all too different from the seemingly dark hedgehog. They both fought for what they believe in.

Sonic had nightmares every night. The horror of his home burning. His family being carried away and their faces, erased from the world. The fire that rained down and burned many innocent people… he had seen it all. He had never wanted to get revenge… but to Avenge. His family and all those slaughtered needed to be avenged. He had been the only hope before the Kingdom had rebuilt. He had been given the power to run at super speeds using his anti-gravity sneakers his uncle had given him and told him to keep secret. They would not wear out or deteriorate for nearly fifty years. They were immune to pressure and heat and could withstand the hottest plasma fire in the world. He had used his power rings as weapons to actually boost his speed even more. At one time he had asked Knuckles the Echidna to allow him to use the Master Emerald to bring back his dead family. The Echidna refused and was offended, saying, "When the Master Emerald made me its protector, one of its sacred rules was to never resurrect the dead with its sacred powers." Knuckles had barely considered allowing Sonic to use the Chaos Emeralds to create his super form.

Sonic knew what had to be done. Neither side would win this war for years to come, and both sides had a clear chance to win. But with thousands of newly built robots coming off an assembly line every day, it seemed impossible to win. Whenever they would gain a foothold, more reinforcements arrived. Sonic knew one day they would collapse under the will of him and those who wished to free Mobius. Those mindless robots had nothing to fight for but only to obey a fat man in a chair named Ivo Robotnik.

Years after the Space Colony Ark incident, Professor Gerald announced to the world that he was leaving on a Space Voyage with seventy years of fuel and his crew loyally followed. He said he would discover things and planets that would benefit mankind and all Mobosapiens. He left everything in his grandson's hands, believing it was safe. The only thing he hadn't left behind was the ultimate life form project. The life form that would perform miracles beyond everyone's wildest dreams. It was Shadow. Had Shadow been left with Dr. Robotnik it might have been trouble if Dr. Robotnik had understood what Shadow really was but it was too late as Shadow broke free of the chains of lies.

Dr. Robotnik had been running an underground organization for twenty years right under the nose of the Kingdom. Building an army to take on the entire world. Many times the Kingdom ordered him to show them what he was up to and questioned what it was he was building. He had refused. And they began to ignore a threat selfishly, concerned with other things, like how to get fuel before rivaling countries could and how to get better weapons, instead of facing the real threat. The people of Mobius insisted that action be taken and that they seized all that Robotnik was hiding, but they ignored.

Then one day it was too late. And only at the very end did they understand their ignorance and foolishness. Robotnik had conquered Mobius. Only to lose it from total control five years later. Sonic had stepped in and had come so close to death it made him realize what it meant to be alive. He had given the Kingdom a chance to rebuild and win the war. The New Kingdom was more of a democracy… even with a king and queen ruling, the people could elect six members of a Leading Council of the Kingdom that had power over each other, making sure that these mistakes would never happen again and no one could become too powerful, and making sure that no one person alone could control the military, for the king made a rash decision on the day Robotnik attacked and fire two nuclear missiles at Robotnik's fleet and only poisoned part of Mobius in the process.

The only thing keeping everyone from using Nuclear weapons or super bombs was the EMP emergency satellites that Professor Gerald had placed in orbit. Satellites that if activated shut down all missiles being launched. No one had control over the satellites, for they could only be activated repeatedly, but never turned off or destroyed, for Professor Gerald had left some kind of mysterious unknown technologies that protected them that he made sure no one else knew about or how to get around. True he had benefited mankind much more than hurt them in then end. They could fire disarming EMP beams and waves, also shooting down any aircraft trying to deliver a bomb, and each leader had a way to activate the EMP satellites. The four military Generals had a way, the six Council Members, and The Queen had a way too. If anything went wrong then the EMP satellites needed only be notified and they would act on their own. It was unknown what powered them and kept them running. Hopefully no one would ever discover the technologies for it could result in a nuclear holocaust. Robotnik had, strangely, no knowledge of the control over the satellites, only the Kingdom had been given control over it. They had used it on the battlefield many times and had even been able to discover how to make EMP grenades and bombs. But further than that, the technologies powering the satellites was very safe and being kept from any wrong hands.

However, this war would take a long time to win, but Sonic was never going to stop until it was finished forever. Then, he believed, all those who had been murdered or died fighting for the war, and his family, would rest in peace and be avenged. It was like this… either he won… or he died and failed. He was determined to win this war. No matter what it took or how long…

---End of Chapter---

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	3. A raging battle

Chapter 2: A raging battle…

"Damn I'm out of ammo. Corporal Howe, get over here, I need a few extra rounds son! Give me the standard assault rifle armor piercing bullets… damn I'm glad we learned how to pierce them damn robot's metal exteriors… I remember years ago when all we had was flimsy old bullets that couldn't even go all the way through a tree trunk. It was hell. Every time we would fire on an enemy unit, the bullets would harmlessly ricochet off of their bodies, it took more than five soldiers to bring just one down, and damn near 600 bullets just to take em' down! Even our rockets couldn't pierce a tank's damn hull! But no… we don't live in the damn Stone Age anymore. We got technology that can kick Robotnik's damn ass…. Now it only takes a few bullets to take down a single robot. These bullets could pierce the thickest titanium in the world… they would tear through your flesh quicker than a damn mille-second." Sergeant Ballack said. "Geez serge. How many times can you say damn in a sentence?" Corporal Howe asked, handing the disgruntled Sergeant a handful of rounds. "A lot of damn times boy. Now move your damn ass out! We've got a battle to win, and I ain't about to lose it!...damn it!" The sergeant said.

Sergeant Ballack was a tall and lean dark skinned human. He had a deep and scratchy voice that said to everyone, "I'm your damn leader son!" He and his squad had fought hard with the other platoons for weeks to gain control over the Southwell Zone that was in enemy control. "We've got a few enemy tanks near that Landing Zone we need to clear! Private Lancer, get that missile launcher ready for fire, load up a few rockets… it's going to be a damn tough take down son! But we've gotta take this landing zone!" Sergeant Ballack ordered. Private Lancer got on one knee, and poked his launcher through the thicket of trees at the tanks, sitting next to Southwell Lake, in the open next to a few ports and docks. He made sure he had a good lock, and then fired two rounds of missiles, taking out one of the three tanks.

The other two scanned the area immediately, and Sergeant Ballacks knew that their scanners would detect his squad. Quickly, and as hard as he could, he through an EMP grenade out in between the two tanks. His aim was true and the tanks began to flare with blue flashes of electricity as their circuits fried and disrupted. "All units fire!" The sergeant yelled. His squad unleashed a deadly combined wave of armor piercing bullets, followed by two missiles, which destroyed the tanks. "Get over there now!" The sergeant barked.

"Corporal if you come under fire I need you to take the best cover possible and give a strong suppressing fire, make sure all the others do the same. I'm going to radio command. But try to hold that position. I'm going to get some supplies and reinforcements. And for god's sake boy, try to make sure I don't lose any of my men… or my Mobosapiens." The sergeant said. Corporal Howe nodded and began to move in on the Rendezvous point, followed by his men.

"Command, this is Squad Fireteam 53. Over. We have secured the Rendezvous point and an LZ. I'm sending you a transmission of our coordinates to pinpoint our location. Requesting supplies of every kind and a few more squads to help. See if you can send a few Turret Mounts." The sergeant said through the intercom and radios.

"That's affirmative. We're airlifting armor and supplies along with reinforcements to your position. We've got reports of multiple enemy units that are aware of your position. As soon as you get your men and the other squads rounded up, I suggest you take the supplies and take an immediate cover in the forest area. See if you can set up a Recon Patrol Camp. It's going to get dark soon out there and the enemy is aware of your position, repeat, advise you take cover as soon as you get the airlift." The Command Tech said through the radio. "That's affirmative command. Sergeant Ballack out." The sergeant replied.

"Damn… as soon as we think we've got a foothold there's always more and more… does it ever end?" the Sergeant muttered to himself. He stepped out into the open, taking a few moments to admire the sparkling of the Southwell Lake as the sun reflected its surface, and then approaching Corporal Howe. "There's a large wave of enemy units we can't hold out against. As soon as we retrieve the airlift and supplies we are retreating back into the forests to set up a Recon Camp. We will cut all transmissions and communications until I give the order. Tell the men to prepare to fall back." The sergeant said. "Man… there's always something. How can we defeat Robotnik's forces when they keep coming like this?" the Corporal asked. "Damn boy… you think we got it rough? Back then we couldn't even fight back without a little blue hedgehog we all know as Sonic. We didn't even have damn armor piercing weapons yet. So cut the whining. Tell the men my orders double time!" The sergeant said. "Yes sir right away!" the Corporal replied.

The sergeant heard the sounds of the rushing propellers of the approaching helicopters airlifting his reinforcements getting near. Soon they arrived and dropped about 18 more men, two Turret Mounts, and a weeks worth of ammo and food. "I'm Corporal Mark Fesler. What are your orders sergeant?" the approaching Corporal addressed as the choppers got out of hearing range. "Well son… we've gotta fall back into the forest and set up a Recon Camp and cut all communications and remain dark until I give orders otherwise. Sorry son… we all know how it goes. There's too many to handle. We've got to fallback." The sergeant said. "SHOOT!… every time it seems like we're winning we're really not…" The corporal said, looking extremely depressed at he news that he had heard many times before.

Suddenly, a blast rang out, followed by Private Donnas screaming in pain. The sergeant immediately knew what was going on. "On my lead men! FALL BACK! FALL BACK!" The sergeant's voice rang out over the returned gun fire. He ran over to Private Roy Donnas and grabbed him, assisted by Corporal Howe, who helped drag him away. "Cover fire men! Fall back!" The sergeant yelled again. They were able to escape from a horde of Elite Bots, falling back while a wave of EMP grenades helped hold off the enemy.

Finally when they reached a safe distance, the Sergeant laid down Private Donnas. "Where you hit son?" he asked. "M-my leg!" the Private yelped. The sergeant looked down at the soldier's right leg; it had been hit by a Laser shot. The soldier's skin was bubbling and was a mix of melted fleshy matter and a dark red burned blood. It finally stopped bubbling from the more than 3rd degree burn. "Serge… I'm… dizzy…" The private muttered under his breath. "DAMN IT SOLDIER KEEP YOURSELF TOGETHER, STAY WITH ME! ANY MEDICS GET OVER HERE NOW!" The sergeant barked.

A few soldiers rushed over to the soldier's aid, pulling out bandages and antiseptics and all kinds of numbing medicine. The soldier passed out and closed his eyes. "Serge I don't know if he's going to make it…" one of the medics announced. "Damn… I'll pray for you tonight son… try and pull through the sergeant said.

A bear Mobosapien almost the height of a human approached. "Corporal Pearez sir. We've cut all communications until you give orders to re-establish connections. We're dark and undetectable." The Corporal said. "Good job corporal… set up the best camp you can for the night." The sergeant said. "Damn… what I would give to have Sonic the Hedgehog here on the battlefield today…" the Sergeant said.

---End Chapter---

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	4. A haunted past

Chapter 3: A nightmare…

Over the mountains came a ship. The ship looked threatening. It was followed by many more its own size. The fleet of mysterious hovering battleships blocked out the sun and the sky dimmed heavily, as if it were night. There was Mobotropolis. It stood in the path of the fleet, which hovered above it.

Sonic stood watching. The fleet stopped above the city. He was at a safe distance upon a ridiculously large hill. The fleet opened up many holes that revealed a bright light gleaming from each one. They began to rain fire down on the city, burning it to nothing and he heard the cries and screams of the innocent and they were suddenly hushed.

Thousands of battle bots dropped to the surface of the planet, ridding it of all life that had survived the flash fires, and crushing all the resisting soldiers. They fired their killing weapons and obliterated all in their path. Hordes of them marched towards the hill that Sonic stood on, as if they had been looking for him the whole time and they had just spotted him.

He began to run, but instead of running at a high law of physics bending speed, he ran like a normal Mobosapien, like a weak child and was pissed at himself for some reason. He tried to jump into a spin dash at the hordes of robots, only doing a front flip and landing on his back, causing him to suffer a horrible back pain. It was obvious he couldn't win against these things, as lasers flashed at him and around him. He did what he could. He ran away. And he never stopped running, hating himself for not being able to fight.

The SWAT bots were not taking any time catching up to him and easily caught up to him and began to fire at him. He screamed as he felt the pain of searing plasma melt through his skin and out the other sides. But death didn't come and it didn't take him, but he only endured the suffering as if he was being horribly punished. They dragged him off for hours and every now and then would shoot him in a random place to make him hurt more and to ensure that he felt no peace or that the pain was subsiding. They carried him all the way to the burnt city. Not a single story more than 6 stories high was left standing. They were all gone, piles of ash and rubble. Ash began to rain down from the sky. It fell like snow and choked Sonic as he tried to breathe. The air grew cold...

As they carried him he noticed along the way bodies of people who hadn't been entirely burned, some of them just charred and lifeless bodies… and it was sickening more than anything he'd ever felt. The SWAT bots released him as he began to throw up from the horrifying sights. He stopped as his stomach gave him a pain like it was being stabbed with a knife, or as if it was trying to eat itself from the inside out from starvation. He began to cough up blood. A SWAT bot kicked him so hard in the stomach he fell to his knees, and they began to drag him again. He saw more and more burned bodies and buildings still on fire. In the horizon where the blue sky should be was a dark red and orange sky, there was fire in the sky itself. The distance burned as if everywhere around them was burning in an alive fire.

The SWAT bots began cut into his skin and he had no power to stop them. His hate burned for them like a hell more than the fire around them, and his will would normally force him to fight back, but as his ego tried to make him fight, his legs, his arms and hands did not respond to him or move. The robots dug needles down his arms and legs, and began to suck blood through tubes. Sonic tried to scream but he couldn't and his lungs felt like they were suffocating. He felt like he was drowning in the ash. He wanted it to end, why wasn't he dead yet? It seemed like they drained blood through the tubes forever and like he never ran out. Finally they stopped and each of them kicked him again until he coughed up more blood, and it felt like one of his lungs had just torn.

Why the suffering? Why!? The SWAT bots dragged him more until they were directly under the ship. "You there, SWAT number 4, take these blood samples to Dr. Robotnik." A SWAT bot ordered to another one. While SWAT bot 4 obeyed orders, the others began to activate a beacon, and a beam came down from the ship that lifted them into the air at a speed that would kill a person...

They entered a room… there was a glass tube in the center with cords and circuits running all around it. There next to it was Dr. Robotnik… and Sonic's own uncle Chuck. Robotnik pressed a button on a keypad that lifted the tube, and Chuck was shoved in. "Sonic… why didn't you protect me? Why DIDN'T YOU PROTECT ME!!??" Chuck screamed, and the very voice of his uncle burned his ears like fire. He tried to say, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" But nothing came from his mouth but blood. His uncle kept saying, why? Why? Suddenly the tube came back down, surrounding Chuck. It flashed and Sonic witnessed his uncle become a mindless mechanized droid the shape of what he was, as his very body shape-shifted into a robot. Sonic tried to yell but again nothing happened.

Chuck stepped out as the tube was lifted. "Kick him in his gut, he didn't protect you enough!" Robotnik ordered the android. Chuck kicked Sonic in the gut harder than any of the SWAT bots had, sending him a clear message. Sonic coughed more blood. "He's next, throw him in!" Robotnik said. They put Sonic upright in the tube. He collapsed just after the tube shut around him again. He lay bent against the tube. It began to get hot… very hot… and very bright. His skin… it burned. It burned like hell and he couldn't even move. It got brighter inside the clear tube, and he watched as Robotnik glared at him, and then grinned. Sonic's skin began to bubble, and it got so bright he lost eyesight. The pain… the pain… his flesh began to melt.

Sonic awoke in his hut. His skin still burned but the feeling slowly began to leave and was replaced by heat as he was covered in sweat, so much that his whole bed was moist. The dizziness left him and his vision cleared. He began to pant heavily, and suddenly gripped his head with both hands, and screamed in agony, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Out into the night everyone heard it and it haunted them and sent a chill down their spine. They felt a ghost-like presence.

---End Chapter---

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	5. Dreams

Chapter 4: Dreams…

"What are those blue prints for professor?" Shadow asked. "They are part of my plan to preserve this world…" Professor Gerald replied. Shadow and his creator stood at the viewing platform and looked out into space aboard the Space Colony Ark at things hovering in the planet's orbit. Mobius was beautiful from up here… a sky so clear with a blue-greenish tint to it, and clouds that swirled around the planet. Shadow had never been there. He envied everyone who lived on the planet.

"What do you mean preserve the world?" Shadow asked. "These are EMP satellites will be able to completely stop any kind of nuclear bomb. That means… No nuclear war. They will activate on demand repeatedly, and have a fuel source that will never die…" Professor Gerald said, "And it's the same fuel source that was given to you to be able to harness the energies of a chaos emerald…"

"What do you mean? You've never told me what connects me to their sacred powers…" Shadow said. "You have a shard of the green emerald in your back. It is connected with your super hardened tissues and muscles that run along your spine… because your skin is nearly impenetrable and grows back quickly, it would be hard to get to it. Even without it the energies flow through your very blood… for to create you… I used the chaos emerald's energies themselves." The professor said. Shadow turned his head the computer screens and looked at the blue-prints to these EMP satellites.

"What if someone can take them out or deactivate them?" Shadow asked. "These technologies are top secret… and they all run on shards of a chaos emerald. The shards are very hard to remove from the emerald itself… so I have made every shard barely the size of a micro chip. So they are very small… yours however is nearly the size of a paper clip… much larger. I've never told anybody how to remove pieces of a chaos emerald, and as soon as this project is complete I will delete all files and data on it, so no one will ever be able to get their hands on it. Shadow… you are the only one who can deactivate these EMP satellites. Through your powers you can seal off the emerald shard's power source to the satellites. I know you will always make the right decision. So most likely you will never have to use that power, unless to keep them from getting into the wrong hands…" Professor Gerald said.

Shadow was a key to protecting the world. He knew he could never let anyone know that secret. This could never fall into the hands of G.U.N., The Acorn Kingdom, or the Human Government. "What is 'nuclear war'?" Shadow asked. "Nuclear bombs are weapons capable of mass destruction. If hit in all the key places they could totally wipe out all life capable of thinking." Professor Gerald said. "I see…" Shadow said. So just a shard of a chaos emerald alone could give someone or something amazing powers. That proved how powerful they were. Every time the chaos emeralds power's are used they chaos warp themselves to a random spot on the planet and scatter... they never stayed in one spot on the planet.

"I will give world leaders a device that will activate the EMP devices whenever needed on demand. But no way of getting control of one completely or getting to it, or shutting them down. Shadow, you are going to do great things for this world one day. I have no doubt in that." Professor Gerald said. He looked at Shadow, who hadn't taken his eyes off of the computer screen. "Why does everyone keep building weapons professor?" Shadow asked. "Selfishness… fear… hatred… many reasons that are foolish. They are all no good and will never do any good." Professor Gerald said.

Shadow looked at his palms… as if looking into his conscience. "Am I a weapon professor?" Shadow asked. "…No. You are only to help this world. To perform miracles. You are the farthest thing from a weapon I have ever built. You are brave Shadow. You are no tool. That is why you have a free will. You make your own decisions… and no weapon is capable of that." Professor said. Shadow nodded. He felt like crying, for these powers would never become a burden, and he was glad to get to have them. "Professor… will I ever get to go down to the planet?" Shadow asked. "Yes Shadow. One day you will." The professor said, smiling. What if Shadow chose wrong? Would he become a weapon???

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Shadow awoke from a loud scream. He had fallen asleep near the pool that contained the Power Stone in Knothole village. "What the hell's going on!?" Shadow asked himself. He ran towards the source of the scream. It definitely belonged to a male. He had totally forgotten about his dream. He stopped suddenly. "Now I remember…" Shadow muttered. Ever since he was frozen and then unfrozen, he had lost most of his memory. He had been gaining piece after piece of it back. And he didn't like the memories that had been flooding back. They revealed things no one could ever know about… he could result in the end of the world one day. There were still things he was sure he didn't know about and would come back to his memory again when he didn't expect it…

His thoughts returned to the scream and he made his way through the dark woods towards the village.

---End Chapter---


	6. Two Hedgehogs, Same Pasts

Chapter 5: Two Hedgehogs, Same Pasts…

A few people were up and around in response to the scream. Some of them were talking to each other, asking what was going on or what was wrong. Shadow looked for signs of danger or any kind of criminal possibly trying to escape. Maybe there was an attack and as they all spoke Robotnik had hordes of robots on their way here? That had to be impossible. Shadow scanned everything around him. That voice… that scream. Sounded like someone he knew yes… but who?

Shadow saw Sonic the Hedgehog covered in sweat or water or something, stumbling out of his hut, like he was lacking total sense of coordination. People ran to help him up. "What happened!?" They asked. Sonic opened his eyes, his vision very blurred. "I'm fine, I'm fine!" he said. "Let go of me, I'm fine!" He yelled. They began to back away from him. Sonic knew it sounded stupid but he told them all the truth. "I just had a nightmare… that's all…" He said.

People began to return to their huts, and walked away. Sonic slowly began to walk off towards the forest. Shadow followed him, all the way to the pool that hid the power stone. Sonic hadn't even known there had been someone following him, for Shadow walked in a flawless stealth, and the hedgehog jumped when Shadow spoke. "What happened, tell me for real." Shadow said. "I told you all the truth," Sonic said irritated and a little mad that Shadow had just frightened him, "It was a nightmare, all a bad dream."

"You and I both know that sounds hard to believe…" Shadow said. Shadow had only known Sonic to be a hero, someone good inside, and not many people had ever seen Sonic the Hedgehog snap, including Shadow, but it was a shock to see him get angry. "Are you calling me a liar!? Whether it's true or not it's a personal thing that I don't want to talk about! HAVE I EVER ASKED YOU ABOUT YOUR PAST SHADOW? Maybe now you can understand me a little bit! Your past haunts you that much I know; I can see it in your eyes. Maybe you should JUST realize that my own past haunts me too!" Sonic said, turning to Shadow with a look that could kill.

Shadow didn't know how to respond to that. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I was only…" Shadow stopped. "Concerned I know," Sonic said, finishing his sentence, "But the things you see are real I'm sure… the things I see are far from reality but they seem so real… and the fact that they are nightmares that cause me to sweat to the point that I can't breathe is a bad thing." Sonic said. "That's true… I only see things that have already happened…" Shadow said. Sonic stared him down and Shadow couldn't look back at him but instead looked at the pool.

"Maria don't stop running!" Shadow yelled to his friend. He was helping his only family, Maria, escape from all the hell that had broken loose on the Space Colony Ark. "We're almost to the escape pods stay with me!" Shadow said. Maria knew she had to keep going, she didn't want to leave though, she wanted to make sure the crew aboard the Ark and her grandfather were safe. "Shadow we can't leave everyone behind! I can't leave… I won't… not until we know they're safe too!" Maria said. "There's no time!" Shadow said. They heard footsteps of approaching people echoing through the narrow hall. "Maria come on!" Shadow said, but she didn't have time to move. Blood poured through her stomach and chest, followed by her mouth, and the sound of the bullets ripping through the air and into the young girl's body was muted to Shadow the Hedgehog. She slowly collapsed as everything slowed down to him. Her eyes slowly closed and her blood filled the hallway. "MARIA!" He screamed. The soldiers who had just murdered her began to fire on him. He leaned down by her body and the bullets harmlessly bounced and ricocheted off of his body. He kissed her on her cheek, which was covered in blood. He slowly stood up. Anger and rage took him and the entire Alpha section of the Space Colony Ark was incinerated as he attacked the soldiers in vengeance.

"Shadow… Shadow, snap out of it." Sonic said calmly. Shadow looked at Sonic. His eyes were ghostly white. "Damn me… I'm just a machine… just a stupid machine… a weapon." Shadow said under his breath but Sonic could hear what he had just said clearly. "What are you talking about?" Sonic asked. "Nothing… I have daymares just as much as you would nightmares too… even though it's night right now. But what I mean is… I just try not to think about my past… I'm trying to move on." Shadow said. "Well I can't move on." Sonic said. His voice changed. He become a different person. "I'm tormented day and night. I see what happened to this world. I see what happened because I failed everybody, I failed the world. My family is gone. And I could have protected them better. I hate myself… I feel the punishment of my actions… day and night they are there. I know that my family will not rest easy until I have finished this war. Until… I have freed Mobius. That is why I cannot move on. I know what I have to do. And I am a disappointment to them all. I'm ashamed. I will not ever forgive myself, but I will make sure that Robotnik dies and that we win this war. Or I will die…" Sonic said.

"You can't blame yourself like I did. You're turning into what I used to be Sonic. I felt like I failed the professor and Maria both… but I realize now they left their dreams and their hopes with me. If I don't carry them out no one will. It's not your fault. And you're not a failure. You gave us all a chance to rebuild; you gave this world a fighting chance." Shadow said. "I was there… the night Robotnik came and grabbed the king by the throat. I could have stopped him!" Sonic shouted. "And then you would have died. And Mobius and the resistance would be finished. You had to live to fight another day…" Shadow was unable to finish. "NO!!! That's where you're wrong. My life is as valuable as everyone else's, I am not a V.I.P. I am just as valuable as everyone else and if anything... I should make them all more valuable than me." Sonic said.

The sun began to rise in the distance… Sonic looked at the pool and saw the power stone glowing at the very bottom of it. "I'm leaving soon. I'm going off to the front lines where they'll need me. I'll help them win any way I can, and I'll do whatever they need me to do…" Sonic said. "Then count me in. They could use me too. I'd like to help win the war also… and right now I know some dangerous things that could alter it..." Shadow said. Sonic looked up at the black hedgehog and decided… they weren't so different at all. He decided not to ask about this remark. "Sayonara…" Sonic said. Shadow waved as Sonic disappeared into the woods and looked down at the power stone glowing in the pool. It was less visible in the day time. Shadow began to head back towards the village. He was hungry… he didn't get hungry often though… his body didn't need food but about four times a month… after all he was the "ultimate life form."

Sonic had lived in this village for years… ever since he had begun the guerrilla war against Robotnik. It was where the resistance lived, and beneath it was an underground city. Many of his old friends were gone now that the resistance had broken up and the Kingdom and Human Government had started a war against Robotnik and were rebuilding their society at the same time. Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor, Knuckles, Fang, Manic, Sonia, Griff, Cream, Cheese, and many others. They had gone out there to fight for the war effort, and each of them were valuable on the fields of battle, they had much experience in war already. Some of them were tired of fighting and had gone off to live normal lives… even Tails, Sonic's best friend, hadn't been seen by him in nearly a couple of months…

He missed them all they had been like a family to him and had always been just as strong for him as he had been for them, and he loved them all… he missed Sally too. She was gone… off to help run a whole Kingdom… she wasn't just some teenage girl who ran off right into battle like she used to. He was sure she had forgotten all about him. He was a simple soldier who served for her Kingdom. Strangely… he had seen Shadow hanging around Knothole much lately. He didn't understand exactly how but Shadow had survived after he had sacrificed himself to stop the Space Colony Ark… the vivid story he had heard was that an advanced group of aliens had abducted him in space and revived him, while he was still in his Hyper Shadow super form, and had told him to fight off another alien race that was on their tail while they made an escape. Sure enough he had tried but been knocked out by the enemy vessel and fell through the planet's atmosphere and was protected by his super form and it wore off after he hit the surface, barely saving his life. He said the enemy aliens he was fighting were called the Xortia. He said they harmlessly passed Mobius not giving a second thought and continued to chase the other aliens all the way out of the solar system.

It didn't make complete sense but it fit how he had been able to maintain his super form and survive a plummet through the atmosphere. Sonic had seen his fair share of odd things too. He had seen completely different dimensions and realms. He began to pack his things in his hut, preparing to head off to Acorn City, where a message had been sent to him from the palace itself requesting for his service in the war… sure enough they would need him to help out, but he had already planned on leaving to help out. He had received the message only two days ago but had hesitated to go and he didn't even know why. Of course Shadow would be heading to the palace too. He knew where to go just as well as Sonic did and he was sure they would run into each other again, if not soon, then definitely later on the battlefields. He said his goodbyes to everyone in the village that he knew or could, and then informed Shadow where to go if he needed to talk to the Queen. Shadow had only nodded and said "when you need me, tap into your chaos emerald," and so Sonic left, making his way to Acorn City.

---End Chapter---

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	7. Acorn City

Chapter 6: Acorn City…

It didn't take Sonic long to pack his things. He had, a photo book he himself had put together of his family and past memories, sets of clothes, an old electric guitar his uncle had given him, with one green pick, but no amp or cords, and he had his sneakers, which… he already wore. For a famous person, he didn't have many things, and he didn't like to keep many things, because he moved around a lot. Soon he would be heading off to where they called him to help. Shadow had volunteered to help, and said he would meet Sonic in the Acorn City.

Sonic had kept the green chaos emerald he had found, but had recently given it to Shadow, so he could teleport here and there conveniently wherever needed. Shadow seemed to have a large change in himself, morally, and in an attitude perspective. He was no longer so quiet, or rude. He would help where needed, and no if he had a problem, he could tell others about it, and, overall, he seemed very trustworthy ever since he had returned to Mobius.

Sonic set off early that day, leaving for Acorn City, and it would take him longer to get there than it normally would, because he was taking belongings, he couldn't run there, and get there in a matter of minutes, but instead, had to take transportation, which he had spent more than half his money on. The black vehicle arrived there soon, with the driver, taking Sonic's things and carefully placing them in the trunk, and collecting his pay in advance. "So uh, where too? Acorn City?" The man asked. "That's correct," Sonic answered calmly, climbing into the back of the car.

"We'll get there in about 4 hours." The man said. Sonic nodded, peering out at the Great Forest and the disappearing Knothole Village. He feared stepping into that palace… he wasn't afraid of the queen… her guards…. Or what task they would ask him to do… he was afraid of Sally Acorn… he hadn't seen her in forever. What would she say to him? Would she even remember him?

He tried to force his thoughts elsewhere but failed miserably. He fell asleep in the back of the car, lying uncomfortably against his guitar. He awoke soon, feeling as if he hadn't slept for even a minute, and his neck was killing him. He leaned forward towards the front. "So where are we?" Sonic asked. "Not far, we're passing through Star Light City right now. We should be there in about two more hours…" the driver said. Sonic asked another question. "Do you mind if I play this? My guitar I mean?" Sonic said. "It doesn't bother me…" the driver replied as if he were mumbling.

Sonic hadn't played his guitar in a while… surely he was rusty at it. He picked it up and began to position himself, making sure he had enough room. There was plenty of room, seeing he had the whole backseat and no belongings to take up space. He began to play a solo riff, and recalling all the things and songs he knew, including those he had written with his brother and sister. He wasn't too bad for someone who hadn't played in a while…but then again, he had been as good as a pro at it.

"You're pretty good… are you someone famous?" The driver asked. "You mean you've never seen me before?" Sonic asked. "Nope." The driver said. Sonic seemed stunned. But he didn't care for his fame. "Well I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, nice to meet you er…" Sonic stopped. "The name is Cal Thicks. Nice to meet you too. Bahahaha! I'm kidding you, I know who you are, you're the hero of Mobius. But I didn't know ye could play the guitar like that." The driver said.

"Oh… well… I've been playing for years though." Sonic said. "So why are you going off to Acorn City?" the driver asked. "Going to hear my orders from the Queen…" Sonic said. "Oh… I see." The driver said. They stopped talking and Sonic spent the next two hours playing his guitar and watching the surroundings go by.

Finally in the distance he could see a large fountain, with a marble sculpture of King Acorn, and behind the statue, the road that led to the city, which stood out with its tall sky scrapers and buildings. On the fountain read, "Welcome to Acorn City, in memory of King Acorn, it's finest of leaders, lost, but not forgotten…"

Sonic hadn't been here since they had finished the fountain, which was a lot larger than it looked when they were building it. "Anywhere in particular you want to be dropped off?" the driver asked. "The entrance to the palace." Sonic said. The driver nodded and turned down a street, and over others, which Sonic hadn't ever seen, for the last time he had been here, was four years ago, and the city had grown much since then. The driver stopped in front of the palace, and Sonic pulled his guitar out of the car, along with his photo book. He strapped the guitar around his back, and waved goodbye to the driver, who smiled and nodded, and said, "Good luck. It was an honor to drive you here."

Sonic turned and headed to the entrance of the castle. There were six honor guards dressed in red, which meant they were elite. Two of them stepped in front of him as he approached. "State your business, and what authority you have to enter the palace." "The Queen wishes to see me, I am Sonic the Hedgehog." Sonic replied. "Let me verify that…" the guard said. Near the door a hidden computer screen and keyboard slid out of the hollow wall, and the guard hit a few keys. On the screen came the queen, who was obviously looking back at the guard through a camera. "Yes?" she asked. "Sonic the Hedgehog says you wish to see him, and that he was called here." The guard said. "Let him in. From here out on he needs no verification, my orders are that Sonic come and go as he pleases, he may enter on his own demand." The queen said. The guard turned off the screen, and it slid back into the wall, followed by the key board. The guard seemed disgruntled, and barked orders to his men, "Open the doors." He said. They did as commanded, and Sonic walked through as the doors began to close behind him. The palace looked nothing like the old one, but had many of the same qualities… and it felt strange being in here. As he walked down the halls, he passed many doors, and stairs. He noticed a guard standing near one of them, and he decided to ask for directions. "Sir, can you tell me how to get to the throne room?" he asked. "Yes, take the stairs right here, and they will come to another hallway, but do not stop, go to the third floor, and then down the hall to the hall, all the way to the end, then take another flight of stairs on the farthest end of the right side of that hall, and then you will come to the throne room." The guard said.

Sonic nodded, trying to remember everything. He knew it would take a while to get up to the Queen, but that was just if he didn't get lost, and he hoped he wouldn't. He knew he had reached the thrown room when he saw the long red carpet, lined with golden symbols. He looked up to see the queen, and she couldn't help but smile. He approached her and bowed low. "Stand up; you need not bow to me." She said. Sonic stood. "I was summoned here?" Sonic asked. "Yes. It's an urgent matter. You're aware of the war we rage everyday to take back Mobius. Well the Southwell Zone is the latest key battlefield that we need to get a step closer to victory. We invaded it a month ago, and it seems the enemy does not wish to lose this Zone, and as soon as we had gained an advantage over them, they brought in a horde of reinforcements. All of our troops in the area were under order to kill all communications, and remain dark in Recon Camps until their commanding officers ordered otherwise. We have no clue of what is going on there, or what the status is of our struggle to win over the Southwell Zone. There was a squad of our most elite troops that we sent deep into the battle to punch a line in enemy defense. They did without losing a single man. Once they captured a landing zone, we sent reinforcements to them, hoping to send more soon, but we failed, and we picked up on radar an unbeatable platoon of enemy reinforcements. This squad is Fireteam Green 53. There are 22 soldiers in the squad altogether, and the last transmission we received before they went dark and set up the Recon Camp was that one of their men was wounded, and that he had lost half of one of his legs. That was all we heard last, and then they went dark. No one has reported in from the Southwell Zone, except for the last lines of defense that are holding from total enemy control, and they haven't been able to tell us what of the other platoons and squads that are further in the area.

It's obvious that we need to find out what the hell is going on, and immediately devise a plan to totally take over the Southwell Zone… that's where you come in for starters…" the queen said. Sonic spoke up. "I have a request." He said. "Yes?" she asked in reply. "Permission to take Shadow the Hedgehog with me." Sonic said. "Hm… I suppose he is trustable. He may go with you to help, but keep a close eye on him, we know not his full allegiance to our Kingdom." The Queen said. "Yes ma'm, but I assure you his loyalty lies with us." Sonic said. "Very well. Anyway, we ask that you please move in and find any trace of the soldiers, and their squad, and get them to a safe area so that we can link up and devise a new battle strategy. Or, you can finish off the enemy in the area and give us an opening to land reinforcements in. It is your choice, do what you see fit at the time." The queen said. "I understand." Sonic said, "Should I summon Shadow?" Sonic asked. "Excuse me? Well… yes… I mean, I thought he was here already." She said. Sonic pulled a yellow chaos emerald from a rough leather bag he had around his arm. It glowed brightly.

The room lit up with a bright green light, and suddenly Shadow appeared, clutching his green chaos emerald. "Here, I'm giving you this yellow emerald. I don't need it anymore, Queen Acorn, and I believe it's safer with you than me." Sonic said, handing her his yellow emerald. However, Shadow needed his emerald. "Thank you Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm afraid there is little Intel I can give you about the Southwell Zone further than what I have already. This is all the info I can give you, when you go there and link up with General Branch, he will tell you what else you need to know. For now however, I want you to rest for a couple of days. Here, in the palace, and relax, and Shadow may as well. You deserve it, for I have not been able to properly thank you for freeing our world." The queen said, smiling. Sonic looked at Shadow, who didn't look back, but was busy staring at his surroundings. "I'm sorry Queen Acorn, but I'd feel much more comfortable leaving tonight for this war." Sonic said. Shadow looked at the floor, and then nodded, as if he was talking to the ground. "Just for tonight. Please stay here." The Queen said. Sonic looked puzzled. That seemed odd. What was the big deal? "Okay, just for tonight." Sonic said. "Good. Lane, show him to his room please." The queen said. A guard standing in the room motioned for Sonic and Shadow to follow him. They followed him in an unwilling way. He took them nearly 2 more stories higher it seemed to a long hall that had large doors and paintings stretched along it.

He took them to a room that was listed 15 on the door. "This is Sonic's, and Shadow's is number 16." The guard said. He handed them each keys. "Please don't lose them, like so many guests of ours… have before." The guard said. He walked off, leaving them to themselves. Sonic and Shadow entered their rooms. It was like a miniature house. Sonic couldn't believe it. There were two bathrooms, a large room with a TV and a king size bed, and in the far corner, there was a hot tub. A hot tub in his room. He was definitely not used to this. Sonic had no idea how Shadow could be taking this, or if he might even get the hot tub and his bed confused seeing as how he never really slept in a house or even a structure.

Mostly, Sonic wondered why Queen Acorn had urged him and Shadow to stay here tonight and possibly tomorrow. He decided tomorrow he would look around Acorn City, which was built over the ruins of Mobotropolis, which had then been Robotropolis. It looked much like Mobotropolis, but new things had been built and he wanted to see what was out there in the new city. He wasn't tired at all, and he had never been one to watch TV. He decided he would get out now, even though it was dark. Maybe Shadow might want to come.

Sonic left the room, locked it, and took three steps across the hallway to Shadow's room. He knocked. No answer. He knocked harder, at which time a guard walking through spoke, "he left as soon as he walked in!" Sonic had figured Shadow might do that. Oh well, no point in sticking around, he was hungry anyways. After a dozen wrong turns throughout the castle, and refusing to ask help from anyone, Sonic found his way to the bottom of the castle, and finally the exit. Why did something supposedly enjoyable have to be a maze?

He was amazed for the first time as he stepped out to see the new Mobotropolis, or, Acorn City. Hover Cars flew everywhere, but unlike before, no security bots, but guards with laser rifles or stun batons. Some of the buildings were taller skyscrapers than those that had been in Mobotropolis, the city was more beautiful than before… but he felt awkward remembering his age when he had last been here and how it looked different. Sonic didn't move for a while. He had imagined it to be a noisy and annoying city, but the hover cars seemed to make little or no noise, and it was as calm as Mobotropolis had been. He breathed fresh air and took in everything around him. His peace was broken by a cry of his name… but he could not have asked for a better thing to break his peace; Sally Acorn was running towards him, tears in her eyes.

Before she had gotten to him, he had run towards her, his arms stretched like an eagle, and he quickly embraced him, feeling a hot tear stream from his eye. He could not help it. It was like his family had come back to him. He looked her in her eyes. "Sal… I've missed you so much…" he said. She had missed him calling her Sal; no one else had called her that since he had. "I thought you were out of town… doing something important for your kingdom…" Sonic said, still embracing her. "Finding you was important Sonic… I've missed you so much." She said. How could he think she didn't care about him? Was he stupid? Of course, he thought, he was. Surely somewhere deep in his thoughts he knew she would still care about him.

"So… can you uh… show me around?" Sonic asked in a cocky voice. Sally smiled and wiped away her tears. "I'd be glad to. I know somewhere you'll want to go." She said. "I think I know what you have in mind." Sonic said. Sure enough, she knew him best. She took him a couple blocks away to a new chili dog stand. Sonic walked in feeling as if it were his childhood years again. He leaned against the counter and said, "Two chili dogs with the works pal!" "Sure thing, pal." The owner said, and quickly had two steaming chili dogs on plates in front of Sonic and Sally. Sonic immediately began to engulf his chili dog. He was done before Sally had even touched hers. This brought him back to when they were kids. They had played tag, which he always won, and then gone to a chili dog stand were the food was free for anyone who wanted it, and owned by a generous man. Sonic and Sally as children went there everyday… although she watched in disgust as he ate his, she rarely took bites of hers, leaving him to say, "Are you going to eat that?" as quick as he was done with his. Then they would go play tag again, and grow up together, unaware of their city and childhood being burned and destroyed not long from then by Dr. Robotnik.

Sonic looked at her, waiting for her to take a bite. He laughed and said, "Are you going to eat that?" She giggled, and began to take a slow bite out of it. "Maybe you can have the other half if I don't finish it." She had eaten most of it, and then gave the rest to him, which he took and ate in one bite. She offered to pay, and, feeling embarrassed, he had no money anyways so he could not refuse. They walked through Acorn City until late past midnight. At this time Sonic wondered where Shadow was, and if he was back at the palace yet.

Spending time with Sally boosted his moral and had rekindled his old cocky attitude and ego. He did not act this way to impress her or anybody; it was who he was when he was happy, and she made him happy instead of tired and depressed as he had been lately. Anyone who had been around him knew he hadn't been himself, but now he was back to normal and himself again.

Exhausted and tired, they decided to head back to the palace. It was easier because he told her what room number he had and what it looked like inside the room. She knew where everything was in the palace, and when she took him to his own room, it seemed to take only a minute. He stopped at Shadow's door. Shadow surprisingly opened it before Sonic's fist even hit the door to knock. "Come in here now, we need to talk." Shadow said in an ordering kind of tone. Sonic looked over his shoulder at Sally. "She can't hear either, it's between us." Shadow said. Sonic shrugged, and walked. Shadow closed and locked the door.

"Listen to me, all of those old weapons Professor Gerald left behind… I'm in control of them." Shadow said. "What?" Sonic said loudly, and then whispered "what?" after his mistake. "There's a shard of an emerald in my back that links me to many of his left behind weapons and defense systems… its what connected me to the Space Biolizard Ultimate Life form that lived deep in the shrine in the Space Colony Ark. I've figured it out, and if the enemy does, they may try and use the emeralds to control any weapons they know about…" Shadow said. "But… Wouldn't they need all seven to do it?" Sonic said. "That's what's wrong… I don't know that for sure… they may need just the one whose shard is in the thing they want control of…" Shadow said. "Should we tell the Queen?" Sonic asked. "No," Shadow replied, "Don't tell ANYBODY! It's between us, until I know more, okay? Swear it to me!" Sonic bowed and said, "Alright, on my honor, I promise."

He exited the room, and Sally didn't question him at all about what they had discussed. She brought up new conversation as they entered Sonic's room that piqued his interest. "Tails has created the model and blue prints for a brilliant new bomber jet… it's begun to become manufactured for military use. It travels too fast for most missiles to catch up and strike it." Sally said. "Have you seen him?" Sonic asked excitedly. "About a week ago… He may come and visit you while you are here." She said. Suddenly, she began to cry, and fell into his arms. "The thought of you… going back to this war… it makes me worried sick… I won't be there to fight by your side… and I want to so bad…" She said in choppy sentences. "You can't Sal. You have to stay safe now." Sonic said.

After so long she stopped crying and looked around the room, and eyed the hot tub. He had similar thoughts. "Come on, get your mind off of these things. I'm thinkin' about something better than any kind of chili dog." Sonic said. "What?" Sally asked. "A night of hot lovin'." Sonic said in a deep voice. She grinned. "Er… now how do you work this thing?" he asked, eyeing the hot tub.

---End Chapter---


	8. The attack on the Floating Island

Chapter 7: The Floating Island…

"Yo echidna duuuuuuude… we've got unidentified aircraft on radar." Manic said to Knuckles the Echidna. The floating island, known as Angle Island, was refit for a stronghold base that after a long time of arguing, Knuckles had given in and agreed to let the Acorn Kingdom use as a base. So far it had come in large handy, as it was now lined with Aerial Defense turrets, cannons, batteries, and even an Ion Cannon to shoot down fleets of battleships. Knuckles looked at the radar. He didn't know for sure what kind of ships they were, or whose side they were on.

"Unidentified aircraft, Identify yourself now!" he said. No response. "Repeat, identify yourself immediately!" No response again. "If you have no way of communication, activate a signal of any kind." He waited, and looked out the window towards the fleet of ships, and looked hard. He knew immediately they were enemy ships; for the signal they showed was not friendly at all. One of them fired a beam at the island. Manic gasped. "Yo techs down in levels AA5, activate all shields around section 5 immediately!! Hurry up dudes or section 5's defenses are toast! Hurry the fuck up!" Manic yelled through his com. "Roger that, energy shields charging fast." The techs said in response.

The Master Emerald lay in its power chamber deep underground on the island, with multiple cords and plugs connected to it. The entire island and its defenses were powered by its everlasting fuel source. It protected the island, which also protected it. Suddenly, in a beautiful flash of blue light, the heat beam stopped in its tracks as it met the energy shield. "Drop them now! And open all fire! Any aerial artillery tanks, I need you up at section AA5 now, get up there and target unfriendly ships, respond now! Scramble the Super Sonic bomber jets! Launch all fighters into the air! Anyone powering the anti-air turrets keep your eye out for invasion pods or enemy craft trying to land on the island, this is not a drill, repeat, not a drill! Lockdown sectors leading to the Master Emerald, make sure the shields drop and raise at the proper times!" Knuckles barked orders through his com link.

"What are they doing here?" Manic asked. "They want to bring in one of their battle fleets to the Southwell Zone so that they can bombard the ground forces down there… they're going to have to get through my air defenses and the floating island first!" Knuckles said, "And Manic, do me a favor, report to the Generals on the ground, tell them to ready all anti-air defenses in case we don't hold out. Radio up General Rickters and the Navy, tell them we need an immediate responding battle fleet up in the air and ready to fight as soon as possible! And tell them to bring in the new models, the Oblivion Bomber jets." Knuckles said. "Whoa, are those the new models that the little fox dude made?" Manic asked. "Yes, they are the models that Tails invented… I hope he wasn't bluffing when he said they were nearly undetectable." Knuckles said.

Manic followed Knuckles orders, making sure that everyone was alert of this attack. "They're on their way Knuckles man!" Manic said. "Way to go," Knuckles replied, followed by a high-five. All they could do for now is watch, hoping that everything would work out, and give orders where needed. Just then, someone radioed for them.

"What is it?" Knuckles asked through the com link. "Sir! There were too many pods; we couldn't shoot them all down, some of them got through section CA2! They're trying to get the Master Emerald and cut our power!" The com link started to emit a lot of static, and then the voices were cut out.

"Son of a bitch! Manic, we've got to head out to section CA2 in the underground tunnels now! Before the enemy troopers get there!" Knuckles said. Manic jumped out of his old beat up office chair. "Right behind you bro!" He said with a somewhat serious expression. He quickly grabbed a laser rifle, ammo clips, and a handful of EMP grenades, and stuffed the supplies in his pouch attached to his belt. "Captain Ferral, get up to the Command Center ASAP, I'm leaving you in command of the battle while I go and assist ground forces on the island, make sure none of the enemy battleships gets over or around the island!" Knuckles said through his com link. "Roger that Knuckles, I'm already on my way." Captain Ferral replied. "We've got to leave our com links, we don't have any portables. I won't be in contact until I link up with the ground forces in section CA2." Knuckles said. "Roger." The dull reply came. Knuckles quickly made his way out of the Command Center, followed closely by Manic.

As they stepped outside, they were in awe. The sky was lit up. Explosions were everywhere in the sky above them, and projectiles of all kind raced through the air. It was like watching all of the fire crackers on Mobius go off at once. Just then, as they were busy looking up at the sky, the shield lowered and a shell was fired, which hit one of the enemy capitol ships, causing the sky to light up even brighter, and the ship plummeted through the air as it burned and began to fall apart. Before the shields could raise again, a stray row of laser fire splashed its way onto the island, and instantly the small area it had struck was incinerated and aflame. A few missiles rained down towards them. "Move move move!" Knuckles yelled. Both he and Manic dived for cover, quickly followed by small explosions. "Are you okay?" Knuckles asked, climbing from a small hole he had quickly dug with his knuckles.

Manic climbed out from behind two now badly burnt and split tree trunks. "Yeah I'm fine, let's go now!" he said. They quickly made there way cautiously across the island, hoping the shields wouldn't let anything else pass through and come near them. They ducked as some SWAT bots that had made their way onto the island fire heat rays at them, which were met with a deadly wave of armor piercing rounds that a group of soldiers fired at them. The SWAT bots fell under the combined fire, making way for Knuckles and Manic to get through. After moving their way through hell and dodging lasers and bombs that flew through the air and rained down upon them, they made it to one of the small bunkers that led down into section CA2.

The bunker was under heavy fire from SWAT bots. Knuckles knew charging at them with his fists would get him killed before he got close enough. The soldiers here were under heavy assault, and they didn't seem like they would hold out much longer. "Fore!" Manic yelled, as he threw an EMP grenade through the air, which landed in between a group of SWAT bots. Before they knew what it was it had gone off, and they began to malfunction as waves of electric blue swerved around their bodies, followed by bullets that brought them down quickly.

Some of the SWAT bots took notice of Knuckles and Manic, and turned towards them to open fire. This was a mistake as the soldiers took advantage of this and combined their fire on the small group of distracted bots. Manic and Knuckles took cover behind some boulders that lay out in the open. Manic raised his laser rifle above the boulder and fire many rounds before taking cover again as hot heat rays splashed the other side of the boulder, causing it to glow red and orange with heat. Slowly, the rest of the SWAT bots were picked off, and the small skirmish was won.

Knuckles quickly moved for the bunker, met by many soldiers who were covered in sweat and some who were bleeding uncontrollably or badly burned. One of the soldiers approached and saluted Knuckles and Manic. "Sergeant Toms… we've got some bad news. Some squads of enemy troops made their way into the underground tunnels of section CA2. They took out one of the other bunkers that led into the tunnels, and we've lost radio contact with our squads down there. They haven't reached the Master Emerald yet, that much we know, but we'd better get down there now if we're going to stop them." Knuckles rubbed his chin. "No, stay up here, call for medics and regroup with all ground forces in the area, get ready incase more enemy forces make it to the surface, in the mean time call for medics and just sit tight and regroup. Then the rest is up to your orders. Manic and I can handle this alone." Knuckles said. "Yes sir." The sergeant replied, and saluted Knuckles.

Knuckles and Manic made their way into the bunker, where Knuckles opened the small hatch that led down into the tunnels. "Who goes first?" Manic asked. "I'll go." Knuckles replied as quickly as Manic had asked. He climbed the bars down into the darkness below. Manic waited. "Come down, quick." Knuckle's voice echoed up the hole. Manic slowly made his way down into the tunnel. It was still very dark once he had gotten all the way down, but the tunnel was dimly lit with eerie blue-greenish lights.

"It's kinda spooky don't ya think?" Manic asked. Knuckles smirked, and began to break into a run through the tunnel, followed closely by Manic. They didn't run for long, because they were met by SWAT bots who were trying to break through a door. Some of them turned around and fired at Manic and Knuckles. There was no where to take cover, so they quickly squeezed against the wall and ducked. Manic quickly lobbed an EMP grenade at the SWAT bots. It went off before it landed, and all of them began to malfunction. Knuckles quickly took advantage of this and rushed towards them, and began to beat them with his fists until they were nothing but bits and broke pieces.

Knuckles knocked on the door. "Who is it!?" a voice asked in panic. "It's Knuckles the Echidna and Manic Hedgehog, open up now, that's an order." He said. The steel blast door slid open immediately. "Corporal Williams reporting!" And the human soldier broke into a salute, "Thank god sir! We thought they were going to get through! Reports have told us that they've almost completely smashed through most of the other tunnels and sections. So we split our squad up, half of them went to help hold off the enemy in the other tunnels, and half of them stayed here… our radio was knocked out about half an hour ago." Said the soldier.

"Stay here and if any more of them show up, hold them off as long as you can. We're going deeper into the tunnels and all the way to the chamber." Knuckles said. "Gotcha sir, we'll stay here." The corporal said. Their squad looked beat up; they had about 6 Mobosapiens and 3 humans left to guard this tunnel, each of which looked exhausted. Knuckles prayed that no SWAT bots would break through up above and that no more would head this way.

As they ran through the tunnels, some of the dim lights flickered on and off, followed by a loud explosion that was faintly heard coming from the ground above, and some dust and rubble fell from the ceiling of the tunnel, which shook slightly. "Damn, I hope they're winning up there…" Knuckles mumbled. They came to a door that led into a sideways passage of the tunnel. "This door leads straight to section CA3… this tunnel will keep leading to the chamber. I think for now we should move through the other tunnels and check up on progress, and help if we can." Knuckles said. "Whatever you say Knux." Manic said. Knuckles hit a large green button, which caused the steel door to slide up, and they moved through quickly, without shutting it.

They heard gunfire coming from the tunnel ahead, and they came to another tunnel; section CA3. The soldiers were on the right side leading out of the tunnel, desperately trying to hold off the approaching SWAT bots pressing from the left side. Knuckles knew there was no time to waste, and he jumped out forward as quickly as he could towards the left side, and met the SWAT bots head on. Before they could target and shoot him, he was bashing his way through rows of them, and quickly finished them off. Manic looked disappointed that he didn't get to do anything. Knuckles quickly turned around. "What is your status?" he asked the squad of soldiers. A Mobosapien spoke up. "They had almost pushed us all the way back into the chamber; they're pressing hard on all sides. But we should be able to hold this tunnel off now that you've cleared the rest of them out." "Great, and there have been no breaches into the chamber yet?" Knuckles asked. "No breaches detected." The Mobosapien soldier said.

Knuckles pondered for a few moments. "Good, keep guard here. Manic, come on, we're going through the rest of this tunnel all the way to the chamber!" he said. Manic shrugged and followed Knuckles as he made his way down the tunnel towards the Master Emerald's chamber. Finally, they made their way to the blast door. Knuckles hit another switch and it flew open. This room had the same bluish green glow to it. Manic realized that the lights were powered by the emerald and that's why they gave off the odd glow of light. The whole room was lit up like this.

It was filled with techs in their seats, speaking and doing their job. Computer monitors were scattered everywhere. Security screens showing SWAT bots moving down tunnels and being met by soldiers, and in the middle was the Master Emerald lying in a small pit in the center of the room, with all kinds of cords and wires that were plugged into it, that stretched through the room and up the walls. The room seemed secure. Knuckles turned to one of the security techs. "What section needs assistance the most?" he asked. The tech eyed the screen of his monitor for a moment. Section FA6, casualties reported heavy, SWAT bots in larger numbers throughout tunnel." He said. There were many steel doors in this room, there had to be at least 50 doors that led into this large room, each, to Manic's assumption, must lead to another tunnel. Apparently Knuckles knew what tunnel and door led to what, because he took no time picking a door out, and quickly sprang to one across the room. "This one leads to sector FA6 Manic, come on, they need our help now!" Knuckles said. Manic quickly followed Knuckles to the door, which opened as Knuckles hit the green lit button. Gunfire could already be heard as the door opened, and they knew the soldiers were fighting a losing battle.

---End Chapter---

P.S. Sonic, Manic, and Sonia's magic medallions from the Sonic Underground Series do not exist in this storyline and Queen Alena is not their mother.


	9. The battle in the sky

Chapter 8: The battle in the sky…

As soon as General Rickters had received the news that Angle Island was under attack, he had assembled the best battle fleet he could and made way for the floating island. He was in his late forty's and was very tall, nearly 6 feet and a half. He still had a full head of dark gray-ish hair and a rough face, he looked very intimidating, but right now, he was under stress and in panic. One problem with the war was that Dr. Robotnik had always had the best technology when it came to flying battleships, and the Acorn Kingdom had only recently begun to mass produce their own battleships that could take to the sky to rival the enemy's own. Tails Miles Prower had helped them build ships to the best of his ability, and they had been tested repeatedly. But they had not been seen in action just yet.

This would be General Rickters first battle, for the navy he had known all his life was of ships that were bound to the water… it was very different now that the navy had created airborne and spaceship battleships. This would be the navy's first aerial battle against Dr. Robotnik… and they all knew how well he built fleets. This could either be a disaster or a grand victory for the Acorn Kingdom. He was hoping that this would go well. They needed this victory or it could cause the war to turn in Robotnik's favor. His fleet was almost there. He stood on the viewing platform, watching as his capitol ship, the Hawk, also the largest ship the Kingdom had built, made its way towards the floating island.

The Hawk was actually a beauty to him. Painted blood red, and it shined in the sunlight as if it was made of diamond. It had eight cannons that fired shells at a high velocity, four small ion-cannons, and twenty missile launchers. It was a massive beast, and it even had a Hawk-like shape to it. It was much larger than Robotnik's "Egg Carrier" which had been one of the doctor's firstly created battleships. The Hawk was truly a monster, and it could take a real beating before going down, if anything could even get near it to do damage, for it was home to hundreds of fighter jets and stealth bombers.

General Rickters calmed down a bit as he heard Tails's voice echo through the bridge and viewing platform. "Alright, listen up. Robotnik has 6 remaining capitol ships, each almost the size of The Hawk, 52 frigates, 21 cruisers, and 25 carriers at the back of the fleet carrying multiple enemy fighters and bombers in the air right now. The capitol ships are large enough that they each have an energy shield, but each only last so long and will fall quickly under combined fire. The Hawk has a much, much more powerful energy shield, and much more powerful engines, as it has a Chaos Emerald powering it inside of its reactor. Make no mistake, this may be a deadly fight, but we have five capitol ships, including the massive Hawk powered by a Chaos Emerald, 60 frigates, 15 speed cruisers, and 20 carrier ships. Form up your fleet, get ready for battle, and be ready in about 10 minutes."

General Rickters spoke to Tails on his own private Com Link. "Are we sure about this?" he asked. "Yes sir. I would suggest that after you form up your fleet that you send in multiple waves of Oblivion Bombers to puncture their first line of ships and any shields they may have. The bombers are so fast they are nearly undetectable, so you shouldn't have any problems there. Angle Island itself is a large advantage to our battle, as I've heard at the moment they are holding out well on their own right now. Don't worry about the other capitol ships. I've given them each a small shield generator. Their shields aren't as powerful as Robotnik's, but the Hawk's shields may last nearly forever. You'll have to lower them to fire or launch fighters, but the computers and their calculations should be able to handle that. Our frigates are equipped nicely for their size and fire smaller shells, which move faster than the larger ones so they do a nice amount of damage. The speed cruisers are made specifically so that you can initiate low level strikes and diversions throughout the battle. They move quickly so they aren't easy to hit, and you may need to have them focus their fire power on the enemy cruisers… make sure your carriers are well protected." Tails said.

The General breathed heavily. "I'm nervous… I've never fought a battle in the sky or space before." He said. "Don't be. Just make sure you watch everything going on in the battle at all times on your monitors and radars. You shouldn't have much of a problem. I know his technology is far more advance with shielding and speed capabilities as far also as aiming their laser streams, but the Hawk's shields can hold against almost anything, maybe even a nuke. Don't underestimate a Chaos Emerald." Tails said. "Alright. I'll start with a strike on their front lines with the Oblivion bombers." The General said. "With permission sir, I would like to lead the strike with my own specially made Oblivion Bomber." Tails said. The General thought this kid may be crazy.

This kid was 14 years old and he was trying to lead a squadron of bomber jet aircraft? But he did seem to know what he was doing, and the Queen herself trusted him with some of the most important projects in the military… "Permission Granted." The general said. "Thank you sir." Tails said and sped off towards the back of the fleet.

Tails's Oblivion bomber had two seats, was much faster, and carried more firepower than the rest. What was its secret? The gray Chaos Emerald he kept inside of its engine, which powered it. He wondered if even Sonic could match its speed. He had been worried for the longest time that Robotnik may have found or been looking for Chaos Emeralds. He knew that he had one, in his jet, the gray one. The red Emerald, in the reactor of the Hawk. The Green Emerald that Shadow always kept. And the yellow Emerald that the Queen had. That left the last three, the dark blue, light blue, and pink Chaos Emeralds. So far it seemed Robotnik had no luck of finding them, as he didn't seem to be powering any of his weapons or machines with them.

In the second seat of his bomber was Fiona the Vixen. For 16 years old, she had always been a good fighter, and a great help to the Freedom Fighters when Knothole was their hideout. Tails had always like her, and he was pretty sure she was totally aware of it, but didn't speak because of how she had always felt. He was sure she didn't like him, especially because of their two-year age difference. He had told her repeatedly that she could not come along with him, but she didn't let up, so he agreed to let her fly with him.

He flew to the back of the fleet, and began to rally squadrons and preparing them for a strike. He had 3 squadrons assembled, Orange, Green, and Blue squadrons. "Alright! We've got to move fast and punch hard, each squadron form up now! Green and Blue leader, follow Orange squadrons lead! The fleet will arrive at the battle any minute now!" Tails said through the com link. His squad formed up behind him, and before he or Fiona knew it, they were moving at past the speed of sound.

"Line up and hit em' hard!" Tails said. They flew into hell, dodging everything around them. Tails moved in and hit a whole line of frigates and one of the capitol ships, followed by the rest of Orange Squadron, then Blue and Green squadrons. They knocked out most of the front line frigates, and managed to completely puncture the shielding on the enemy's largest capitol ship. Each had come off without a scratch or a missile or fighter on their tail.

"Great run boys! Get ready for another run! Keep moving, keep your speed up! If anything picks you up, get back to the fleet!" Tails said. They formed up again, and came around for another round of an assault. The enemy's fleet seemed confused because they didn't form up a new line immediately, and before they could move more ships up, the Oblivion Bombers had destroyed the remaining frigates and caused the capitol ship to slow up a bit as its engines took a heavy blow from Tails's strike.

"Alright! Quickly, form up again for one last strike then head back to the fleet!" Tails said. The pulled around, and this time a few cruisers had spotted them and fired missiles, which missed each bomber, as they moved so fast that they caused the missiles to move completely off course. They hit a few of the carriers and more frigates, and this time the capitol shipped tried to launch fighters, which were quickly incinerated as they were bombed on take off.

They had done enough damage to give the island plenty of time to get ready for another attack, and for the fleet to prepare a full charge and strike on the enemy fleet. Tails looked out of his cockpit at the capitol ship. It was losing control and swerved accidentally into a frigate, causing it to explode. The force pushed the capitol ship into the opposite direction. Tails was alarmed as he saw that the others were gone already, and he had multiple missiles and fighters on his tail. "Come on! I CAN TAKE ALL OF YOU!" he said. Then he remembered Fiona was in the jet with him. He turned over his shoulder to see that she was very frightened. Even though he was tightly strapped in, he manage an arm into the backseat gripped her arm. "It's going to alright okay Fiona? Bear with me here, I'm going to have to do a little maneuvering to get us out of this mess!" Tails said. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

He could not risk her life. Even though he was almost positive that all of these fighters were barely even a match against his Oblivion Bomber, he decided to take off for the fleet. They were firing at him furiously, heat rays and missiles zooming past him this way and that. He did flips and barrel rolls, which he hated because every time he did one Fiona gave a shriek of fear. He couldn't shake them. "Damn, what did they send their whole fleet on me?" he said, annoyed with everything on his tail at once. He worked his best to dodge many more missiles and heat streams, most of them missing his jet by inches. How many fighters were there on him right now?

He checked his radar. "Holy shit." He said. There were nearly eight squadrons tailing him at once, and multiple missiles headed his way. He wasn't sure if he could get through this mess and back to the fleet. At least he knew the others had made it. "Hang on Fiona!" he said as he barrel rolled furiously.

Finally, as he thought he had made the clear, a laser stream hit the tail of his jet, and alarms flashed. "Layers A-F lost," a computerized voice told him. The laser stream had gotten a good hit on him, and it had eaten nearly the entire back of his jet! He had still had a single layer blocking his engine, but he was going down fast, and he couldn't level out. This jet was no longer fit for battle, and just as he thought it couldn't get worse, one of the missiles caught one of the jet's wings. "NO!" he said. Fiona screamed in terror as they began to plummet. Tails ran through options in his mind. He would have to land on the Floating Island.

"Hang on Fiona! We're going to be fine, I SWEAR to you we will be alright, we're going to land on the Floating Island okay?" he asked. "Okay." She said in a very chocked voice. Tails was having a hard time keeping the crash landing steady. He could see the shields on the island flashing on and off. He would have to land just as the flashed off to fire something. He swerved and skimmed just above the shield, and as it flashed so a shell could fire, he dived as quickly as he could, missiles still fast on his tail. He made it through just in time, as the shields raised just after he made it through, blocking the missiles and laser streams being fired at him.

That was the hard part, this was the easy part. He had crash landed plenty of times. He searched for a good open spot to land. There it was; a field next to an ancient temple, where soldiers and SWAT bots were going at it. "Hang on, we're almost there Fiona." He said. He fired a row of missiles, destroying the SWAT bots in his path, and then ran the rest of them over. His jet hit the ground hard, and its wheels and landing gears snapped of, causing the nose to smash into the ground. The soldiers cheered as he landed, yelling thanks for destroying the SWAT bots they had been fighting, but he was deaf to them, trying to stop the out of control jet. Finally, after a flip, the jet landed on its side, and the cockpit shattered over Tails, who shielded his head with his arms. He quickly hit the eject button. The straps around him and Fiona snapped, and the cockpit busted open, and they were sent flying out of the jet.

Tails landed hard. He had tried to roll and sprained his ankle terribly. After rolling on his side, he had half passed out, still hearing the explosions coming from the sky overhead. Suddenly his thoughts returned to Fiona. "Oh my god!" he said, jumping up, his energy fully returned to him. He looked around, and spotted her body. She lay there, lifeless. He feared she was dead.

Tails ran over to her faster than Sonic the Hedgehog. She was moaning in pain, and he knew it was a miracle from god himself that she was still here and alive. He picked her up, as if she weighed nothing. "Are you okay?" He said, choked up, tears in his eyes. "I'm fine…" she whispered. "Oh my god I'm sorry Fiona! I was wreckless and it got you hurt!" he said, tears streaming down his face. "No, I'm fine." She said softly.

Quickly, he carried her to a human soldier. "Is there a medic in your squad?" he asked. "No sir. That was some nice shooting; you did us a real nice favor getting rid of those SWAT bots." The soldier exclaimed. "Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Tails said, impatiently, "Where can I find a medic or doctor?" The soldier looked around. "Er… go through this jungle right here. There's a dirt path, follow it all the way through, when you get to the clearing you should come to a bunch of bunkers. They may be under fire right now, I don't know, but they've got medics up there. Just ask someone when you get there, you can't miss the bunkers."

Tails nodded, "Right… thanks." He said. He carried here quickly to the forest, and began to walk down the dirt path. They could both hear explosions from the battle overhead, but as Tails looked up, he couldn't see very much but the mix of blue and green in the sky from the shield and the trees blocking the view. He wondered if the fleet had met the enemy yet. He looked down at Fiona in his arms. "You stay with me now, you hear me?" he said strongly. She nodded and smiled, her eyes closed. She looked peaceful, and he calmed down a bit at the sight of how she looked.

At last he came to a clearing. There the bunkers were. To his luck, it seemed like the battle here was already over and won. Piles of SWAT bots lay everywhere and soldiers were outside, standing guard. Tails just picked a soldier at random and ran towards him. "I need a medic! Quickly!" he said. "Follow me," the soldier said. He led Tails to one of the bunkers, which he entered. "Ferenfax, Rions, check out this vixen here, make sure she's all patched up! Do anything you can." The soldier said. The two medics took Fiona and put her on a table that was in the room, and began to act on her. Tails watched as they scanned her and put bandages on her. After so long, he worked up the courage to ask, "Is she going to live?" he asked. "What?-oh! Yeah she'll be fine… she's got a slightly sprained wrist and both knees are badly sprained… no broken bones, and there doesn't seem to be any internal bleeding. She's just got some deep cuts and bad bruises… she'll be fine and patched up in no time. She needs to stay off of her knees and there needs to be no use of the wrist for a while if they are to heal." The medic said.

Tails let out a heavy sigh of relief. Fiona was fine; she didn't even have any broken bones. He slowly sunk against the wall, and then remembered something important. "Hey, I need a com link or radio now! I've got to speak with General Rickters!" Tails said. "Here, use these radios over here…" one of the medics said, pointing at one of the computer monitors and headsets attached to it. Tails switched through multiple channels, and then radioed General Rickters. "Tails, to Rickters come in, repeat, come in." Tails said. "Tails! Thank god you're alright! We thought you were gone! What happened?" General Rickters asked. "Damn sir, they sent their whole fleet on me! I was hit, and I was able to make a landing on the island… I'm fine, my passenger, Fiona, has some cuts and bruises but she'll be alright. What've you got to report?" Tails said. "We're doing fine up here, little casualties, we're holding well, right now we're pushing forward on the advance and pressing hard." General Rickters said. "Good news sir. I'm afraid I won't be able to get back up there and help you. I've got to stay here with Fiona." Tails said.

He looked over at her. She smiled when he had said this; her eyes still closed, peaceful as ever. "Copy that… see you after the battle son… and good job, you did your duty finer than any pilot could have been asked. Rickters out." The general said. "Prower out." Tails replied.

Tails took off the head set and waited for them medics to finish. "She's all patched up and okay…" one of the medics said. Just then, there was a knock on the door. It opened to reveal a soldier trying to grasp another, who was nearly completely burned, bleeding bad, and spurting blood from his mouth. "We got a slew of soldiers that need help immediately!" the soldier said in desperation. "Sorry, she can't stay here, you'll have to take her somewhere safe!" the medic said to Tails. He nodded. Tails picked up Fiona and hurried out of the bunker. He looked around. Where could he take her? He needed to find Knuckles.

Tails walked around and found a soldier standing guard, and asked, "Do you know where Commander Knuckles is?" he asked. "He left the command center and put one of the captains in charge almost two hours ago. He went over to section CA2 to help guard the tunnels." The soldier said. "…Er…I have no clue where that is…" Tails replied. "There's a tunnel in this bunker. We've got it secure, it's section GA1, we've got it locked down tight, but if you go straight all the way through, it leads to the Power Chamber. Commander Knuckles should be down there." The soldier said. "Right. Can I just go down there?" Tails asked. "Yeah, go straight until you come to a steel blast door. Don't take any of the others that are on the side of the tunnel into the other tunnels, or you may come across enemy forces." The soldier said. "Okay…" Tails replied.

He walked into the bunker. sat Fiona down, and opened the hatch, revealing bars that served as a ladder… He knew Fiona was in no condition to climb down there. "Fiona, get on my shoulders, and hold on tight." Tails said. He climbed down onto the first couple of bars, and waited for her. She slid on his shoulders and neck, and held on. She seemed to barely weigh anything. Maybe he was numb from the crash. He quickly found that he wasn't numb at all. Ironically, a freezing chill was sent down his spine as he felt how warm her legs and body were. He climbed down, and it seemed dark at first, until he noticed the sides of the wall were lined with these odd blue-ish green lights. He took her off of his shoulders and began to carry her again.

She didn't say anything to him about the crash, as he expected she would. She didn't even speak as they walked through the tunnels and heard explosions from the ground above. He worked up the courage to apologize. "Fiona… I'm really sorry that I put you in danger and got you hurt… please… please find it in your heart to forgive me…" he said. She looked up at him. "No. It's not your fault Tails. I begged you to let me come along to fight. I asked you and you told me no repeatedly, but I had to go, I wanted to help in this fight like I used to. It's on my own part that I was hurt today, don't blame yourself at all. If anything… I should be thanking you… you saved me, you saved us, up there… and then you carried me to safety after I was seriously hurt… and you're still carrying me right now… you're so strong… and I thank you." She said. Tails's stomach did a back flip. "You're welcome Fiona… But I'm still sorry." He said. "Don't be, because it's not your fault." She merely replied again.

As he was walking further down the tunnel, Fiona seized him, and out of complete nowhere, kissed him so suddenly, he may have thought she was eating his face. He had never kissed anyone before. It wasn't like he expected at all. For a second, he thought he might drop her, but he didn't, he gripped her tighter, and kissed her back. Walking through the tunnels turned out to be a makeout session for both of them. He didn't know how long they had been at it, but suddenly a large explosion caused some of the dirt from the ceiling to cave in. He covered her from it. "Oh… I guess we had better move on…" he said. He began to walk again… he was very sad they had stopped, almost upset. She knew he felt sad. "Don't worry Tails… there's more where that came from later." She said in a playful voice. He couldn't help but grin.

Finally, after walking for what seemed like a long time, they came to the steel door. He noticed a green glowing button, but didn't hit it, because he was still holding Fiona. He used his elbow, and knocked as loud as he could, and wondered if these doors blocked out sound. Apparently they didn't, because someone called, "What is it?" "I need in, to see Knuckles." Tails said. "Why aren't you at a post soldier?" the voice said. "I'm not a soldier, I'm a pilot and I crashed here. I'm under no further orders, so I wish to see Knuckles." Tails said. A familiar voice called, "Let him in, that's an order."

The door slid upwards, and Tails walked into the room. It was magnificent. He wanted to live in here. It was lit with the same blue-ish green light. The Master Emerald in the center caused the room to glow brilliantly, and all kinds of cords were connected to it. People sat in chairs, talking through their com links and typing on their keyboards, eyeing their monitors. There was Knuckles, and a green hedgehog holding a laser rifle. Tails had only met him once, but remembered that he was Manic, Sonic's brother.

"Tails! Fiona! You're both okay… that's good news. I didn't know you were coming. What happened?" Knuckles asked, walking towards them. "My Oblivion Jet crashed… Oh my god… no… no…" Tails said. He looked up at the ceiling and said, "no!" again and rather loudly. "Tails, what is it?" Knuckles asked calmly, placing his hand on Tails's shoulder. "The Chaos Emerald, powering my jet! I left it! It's still in the jet! The SWAT bots might find it! My gray Chaos Emerald! I have to go back for it… but I can't leave Fiona!" Tails said. "She's hurt." He added.

Manic stood by one of the doors, which was opened, and gunfire echoed loudly. "Yo Knuckles dude… we've got to clear out this section and help em out remember?" Manic said. More gunfire echoed. Knuckles looked from Manic to Tails. "Tails, stay here, I'll be right back, do you know where you went down?" Knuckles asked. "Near a temple, and there were some soldiers there. There was a jungle right next to it, then I went through it on a dirt path and came to a clearing… there were a bunch of bunkers, and the soldier said the section we just came through now was GA1." Tails said. "I don't know exactly where that could be… there are lots of jungles and many temples on the island… just wait here. Me and Manic will be right back, right now the soldiers down here need all the help they can get, and we can't leave right now. We have to make sure no SWAT bots get to this chamber. I'd send a squad to find your crashed jet, but we need all of the soldiers we can get right now. I can't spare a single man." Knuckles said. The gunfire got louder.

"Right. I'll wait. Please hurry. I can't let that Emerald be captured and given to Robotnik. It'll be my entire fault." Tails said. Fiona started to speak, but Knuckles cut her off. "No Tails. Even a Chaos Emerald isn't worth someone's life. You did what was more important, you did what you had to, you took care of Fiona. It was more important that you got her out of there than getting to that Emerald." Knuckles argued. Tails started to speak but he found truth in Knuckles' words. However, He still couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt and worry. The gunfire got louder. Manic still stood by the door, peering at the tunnel, and then turned towards them. "Yo Knuckles man, we gotta move now!" he said. "Right Manic!" Knuckles said. "I'll be back as soon as I can Tails. Don't worry. I doubt the SWAT bots will be able to mess with that crashed jet while there is a battle going on, or that they even think it may be powered by an Emerald." He added.

Knuckles and Manic quickly moved through, and the door slid down, shut behind them. Tails looked at Fiona's beautiful red body, and she smiled at him and then closed her eyes and sort of buried her face in his arms, she looked tired. He was partly glad that he had gotten her out of there, but if that Emerald fell into Robotnik's hands, it meant that the entire war could change…

---End Chapter---


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